Special A: Cleared Pathways
by Quinex
Summary: The S.A is back to the normal routine, well normal for them. There is a certain shift in the club though, and things are becoming more unclear to Hikari as well as to all of her friends. Does she like Kei? Will Hikari come to accept his love? Please R&R!
1. Back to School

**This happens to be my first fan fiction, be as harsh or as praising as you want but I do hope you enjoy! Sorry if there are any errors. I went over this, what? 10 times? But my eyes might not be fresh to it so I may have overlooked it. This is a continuing of the anime and I tried my best to make it seem like it could be part of the show had it gone on longer! Hope you enjoy, and know that I do not claim any of the original concepts from the show :)**

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"Okay Dad, I am off!" Hikari dashed out the door of her wood-shop of a house off into the streets, and set her new stopwatch to measure the time she took to get to school. Akira gave her the new stopwatch, in the hopes that Hikari would be able to use it to beat Takashima to school.

"You have to beat him now, there is no way you can lose!" The words of Akira rang in Hikari's head as her determined run made her fly above the ground. She was almost hesitant to accept Akira's gift as it looked so expensive, but once she got it up and running Hikari had felt a certain feeling of confidence.

The gate of the school arrived in the horizon, giving Hikari a burst of speed in hopes that she would make it before her rival. She made it through the gates in no time and hunched over to take a few breaths when she felt someone's chilling breath on her neck. "Nice try, Miss Rank Two." The words sent shivers down her back and she stood there for a moment, the title of being rank two hanging over her head in disappointment.

"HIKARI!" Akira ran toward her, hugged and swung Hikari around, breaking Hikari from her trance. "Hikari, did you beat him?" Akira asked, anticipating a yes.

"Not by a long shot," chimed Takashima. Akira swung around; face red in her intense madness, "KEI! YOU SCOUNDREL!" Akira threw a punch in Kei's direction, only to miss due to Kei's fast reflexes.

"Whatever," Akira puffed as she walked away, dragging Hikari along with her.

It had been two weeks since Takashima's birthday, and things were returning back to normal, well as normal as they could ever possibly be in the SA. The only difference being that Hikari felt a bit more aware of the butterflies in her stomach around Takashima, the feeling that couldn't have possibly been friendship or rivalry. She couldn't forget what others had told her, about that feeling being one of love. The thought of it made her intensely blush and altogether confused. Not knowing what to think of it, she put it in the back of her mind for her to be stumped on later.

"Tadashi and I have been thinking about taking a trip to the hot springs, well he purposed the idea, with I assume, the purpose of being lazily-romantic," Akira explained to Hikari. "But, I rather not go alone with him, so I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go with us as well this weekend?"

Hikari put a finger to her lips in thought; did she have time to go? Usually her weekends were free but she felt like something was taking place this weekend. Hikari disregarded the inkling, "Of course! We will have so much fun; maybe we can even get massages!" Akira looked at Hikari in disbelief, "You have never had a massage before? My poor Hikari! You should have told me. Everyone deserves to have at least one massage a week."

The two girls entered the SA room, only to find Tadashi talking about the hot spring as well. "Hey guys, Akira and I are going to the hot springs this weekend and I was wondering if you all wanted to go as well?" Tadashi turned around to see Akira and Hikari standing there, Akira looking as though she was going to burst. "Oh yeah, my bad! Hikari can come as well," Tadashi smiled, thinking he solved Akira's madness.

"Tadashi. You are an **idiot**!" Akira screamed in his face then banged a dish atop his head. "What is the problem?" Hikari saw nothing wrong with everyone going to the springs.

Takashima closed the head of his laptop, and looked up to meet Hikari's eyes. "Well if my Hikari is going, I will be going as well." Akira shrieked like a banshee, and they all understood the problem at hand.

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**Sorry, ended it oddly but I wanted to give the next chapter some space to grow. And I wanted to give just enough that people could correct me if need be before I got too far.** **:) Thank you for reading, the next chapter should be out shortly!**


	2. Hot Spring Confusion

_"Well if my Hikari is going, I will be going as well."_

"Your Hikari?" Yelled both Akira and Hikari. "I don't belong to you, Takashima!" Hikari told him, face red as a beet, sort of confused why he would say such a thing.

Takashima, on the other hand was too busy with a screaming Akira to notice Hikari's last comment. Akira was throwing punches, this way and that way. She knew she was never going to hit him but maybe she could at least tire him out. Her persistence was stronger than iron-clad rope, and she wasn't about to let Takashima get away with saying that easily.

"But Kei, how will you get off of work so that you can go?" Asked Ryuu. Akira stopped fighting for a moment, and laughed manically.

"Hahaha! You won't be able to go after all!" Akira was ecstatic, almost insane with happiness.

"It is a good point Takashima, you never are able to get off work," Added Hikari.

"I will just tell my father that an important business man owns the hot springs," He explained.

Just then Tadashi broke in with a hesitant smile, "Well, you see, I uh... have some good new and bad news. The good news is we can skip about two days of school to go to the springs. The bad news is that we will have to work there for those days."

Before Akira could freakout he explained himself, "You see, my mom's business partner owns the springs and she wants me to learn some business skills, so she thought it would be a good idea to send us there on a 'field trip'."

He looked at Akira pleadingly, "Please, please, for the sake of bungee?"

"Fine," She sighed and then added in, "Only if it is okay with the rest of you."

They all agreed to go, some more excited than others. Hikari, on one hand, was in a great mood due to the opportunity. She was enthusiastic about working, and her mind was pondering the ways she could challenge Takashima while at the Springs. Kei had his own less-noble reasons to be cheerful about the field trip, but nonetheless he was thrilled.

'So what day shall we be leaving?' Wrote Megumi.

"Well, tomorrow!" Tadashi nervously said. Akira rolled her eyes, "It just gets better and better, doesn't it?" She was tired of fighting though, she knew she wouldn't win so she accepted her fate.

"Oh my gosh! This is such a rush, I have so much studying to do for this job, and I also have to pack?" Hikari ran off towards the library as fast as she could. "But Hikari, wait! We need to plan your outfits!" Akira said, running after her.

"This is going to be a fun field trip," Takashima said, musingly.


End file.
